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American Eagle MEC: 3 in favor of sending a contract out for a pilot vote, 6 abstentions

American Eagle Airlines pilots will get a chance to vote on a tentative agreement. But their union leadership is making sure that they know it’s not coming with a positive recommendation.

Leaders at the Master Executive Council at the Air Line Pilots Association are telling pilots that only three of the nine MEC members voted to send a tentative agreement to the full membership for a vote. Six others abstained.

Representatives from the Dallas/Fort Worth and New York pilot domiciles said in base messages that the MEC decided to send the proposed contract out for a member vote mainly in response to chiding from American Eagle management.

“It has come to light that management and a vocal minority of Eagle pilots don’t believe the MEC speaks for the vast majority of the pilot groups. With Ray sampling nearly 100% of the NYC CA population and Sam taking sufficient sample to have an accurate assessment of NYC’s collective mood — and similar actions undertaken at other domiciles — we can’t imagine how we could represent you any more honestly or transparently,” the New York chairman and vice chairman wrote in a Friday evening message.

“Personally, we’re not inclined to make decisions based upon what management thinks of our governance processes, but we also recognize we can’t be effective when they only see us as a rogue MEC or being obstinate for the sake of being obstinate,” they stated.

“Your Reps are also growing weary of repeated comments that we had ‘robbed’ or ‘stolen’ the vote of the Eagle pilots; that the Eagle pilots did not get to have their say,” the New York leaders wrote.

As a result, the six MEC members from New York, Dallas and Miami abstained from voting, and the proposal to send the tentative agreement passed on the three “yes” votes from Chicago and American Eagle training.

On Feb. 12, the issue of sending out the proposed contract lost by a 5-4 vote.

In a Friday message, the Dallas/Fort Worth representatives also cited the “reoccurring theme from the new AAG [American Airlines Group] management was that the MEC did not represent the Eagle pilots. They kept asking how 5 pilots could make a decision of this magnitude for the rest of Eagle pilots. Interestingly, our management appeared to have no qualms about a few managers making the decision to drag the Eagle pilots into this self-manufactured crisis.”

Keep reading for the complete messages

Friday, March 7th, 2014

MEC UPDATE

Fellow NYC Pilots –

Today the MEC met in Herndon (Washington, DC) to discuss the industry, our place in it, the company’s continuing demands for concessions and some internal staff matters. Of supreme importance to the New York pilots is the Company’s demands for concessions beyond what we agreed to in bankruptcy. As you are aware, on February 12th the MEC voted NO to the concept of these concessions. Since that time, both the Company and the Association leadership have been properly engaged in discussions aimed at finding a path forward that is mutually beneficial and not mutually assured destruction.

It has come to light that management and a vocal minority of Eagle pilots don’t believe the MEC speaks for the vast majority of the pilot groups. With Ray sampling nearly 100% of the NYC CA population and Sam taking sufficient sample to have an accurate assessment of NYC’s collective mood — and similar actions undertaken at other domiciles — we can’t imagine how we could represent you any more honestly or transparently. Personally, we’re not inclined to make decisions based upon what management thinks of our governance processes, but we also recognize we can’t be effective when they only see us as a rogue MEC or being obstinate for the sake of being obstinate. Your Reps are also growing weary of repeated comments that we had “robbed” or “stolen” the vote of the Eagle pilots; that the Eagle pilots did not get to have their say. In Herndon this week, there was movement by management to make minor improvements to the AIP. So, DFW, MIA and NYC Reps decided to finally put an end to the claim that the MEC was not allowing the pilots to speak. The vote was 3 votes yes, 0 votes no and 6 of us abstained. We could have voted 6 to 3 to kill the deal. Neither NYC, DFW or MIA felt the deal was worthy of your labors and sacrifice to this company, however the MEC had already spoken once on February 12th. Now it’s your turn.

The AIP is coming to the pilot group for a vote. Now will be the time to make your voice heard. In the coming days and weeks both the Association and the Company will be making base visits to discuss the deal. Please review the documents, please engage both Association and Company leaders and decide for yourself if this is a deal you want to work under for the next 10 years.

Sam & Ray

Fellow DFW pilots,

We have some interesting news from Herndon. The company has once again put us into a situation where we are voting on a new and improved version of the AIP. Mine and Kelly’s opinion was that the AIP was dead and we didn’t have anything to vote on.

Another note was the reoccurring theme from the new AAG management was that the MEC did not represent the Eagle pilots. They kept asking how 5 pilots could make a decision of this magnitude for the rest of Eagle pilots. Interestingly, our management appeared to have no qualms about a few managers making the decision to drag the Eagle pilots into this self-manufactured crisis.

There were six of us who abstained from the vote. We have told the company numerous times that we do not want to entertain any agreement that contains concessions. They have not gotten the message and continue to force the issue of concessions at a time when we believe the state of the industry is obviously shifting in our favor.

Kelly and I have grown weary of AAG management and a few vocal eagle pilots repeatedly stating that we had “robbed” or “stolen” the vote of the Eagle pilots; that the Eagle pilots did not get to have their say. While we were in Herndon, there was another attempt by management to make minor improvements to the AIP in conjunction with another time threat. In that light, the six of us decided that we did not want to vote on something that was already dead. We also decided to finally put an end to management’s claim that we were not allowing the pilots to speak. It was agreed among the majority of the members of the MEC that unless we finally lay this question to rest, this drama would continue to resurface until the AIP was finally polished to the shine where 51% of Eagle pilots would vote for it. What we have heard from you in addition to your trust and instruction was “when will this finally be over?”

We are keenly aware that the majority of DFW pilots asked that we not bring this to the pilots for a vote. We are deeply aware of the obligation that rests with the trust you have in us to represent your interests. We believe we have accomplished that to the best of our ability. Now we are handing that vote back to you. We know some of you will not be sanguine with this. We humbly ask that you consider our words and reasoning.

AIP is coming to the pilot group for a vote. You will be asked to make a decision on whether this grab for money just prior to a time when Kelly and I believe the industry is changing dramatically in our favor is acceptable for the next 10 years. We both remain available to your questions and comments

The vote was 3 votes yes (ORD and AETC), 0 votes no and 6 abstained (DFW, JFK and MIA)

Stay Strong, Stay Engaged,

Together,

Val and Kelly

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Terry Maxon writes about items of interest to travelers and the aviation community.